Holistic counselling and psychotherapy

Though stress is a natural part of life, there are times when everything gets on top of us and we feel we cannot cope. We find it hard to share our vulnerability or burden our friends and family with our ‘problems’. The following list are indicators where making an appointment with a counsellor would be of benefit:

• Overwhelming thoughts—affecting sleep, concentration, creating confusion, creating anxiety, panic, negative self -talk (strong inner critic) – affecting quality of life and ability to function
• Overwhelming feelings—such as anger, sadness, shame, guilt, depression, vulnerability, panic- feeling out of control, affecting your quality of life
• Behaviour is out of control—such as over eating, or lack of appetite, lack of motivation, energy, insomnia, addictive behaviors- self- harming- (smoking, alcohol, drugs, gambling, or overuse if social media for example).
• Feeling like you are not coping—adjustment, feeling lost, feeling trapped, feeling stuck, confused
• Difficulty dealing with—crisis, loss (grief, financial, relationship breakdown, death, adjustment to change, trauma, relationship issues, isolation

The holistic counsellor will provide support and guidance to assist you to find the best solution for yourself. This may be through connecting with self/body to calm yourself, increase your awareness or work through deep seated fears. Psychotherapy assists you to work through unresolved issues- such as your core beliefs, sense of self, improve inter-personal skills such as boundaries, communication, mange feelings and overwhelming thoughts.

Modalities are used that help the individual to connect with self and increase awareness using mindfulness, visualization, mind/body connect, work with parts of personality, perception, past patterns, interpersonal work, and process work as examples. For some, a diagnosis of depression or anxiety has already been made and medication may have been prescribed. Holistic counselling is complimentary to seeing your GP and Psychiatrist. I am also qualified as a mental health clinician and can work collaboratively with your GP towards improving your wellbeing.

Each person is an individual and has their own innate wisdom. Working collaboratively with a holistic counsellor will assist you to connect with this wisdom and to find the best way forward. The individual’s process and self-awareness will open up more options and opportunity towards making positive change and towards greater autonomy and self-empowerment.